This may be old news, as I don’t know when this feature was added, but it is definitely appreciated.
I was reading the seven simple solutions for managing your money from Kiplinger, and it inspired me to automatically deposit my paycheck (through Direct Deposit) into an savings account rather than my checking account. I found ING Direct’s routing number through MyMoneyBlog and changed my options to take effect for the next pay period.
I then decided to look into adding linked accounts to my ING Direct account. Previously, the only way to add a linked account was to send a check through the mail, from which they would extract the other bank’s ABA number and account number. Now it seems there is a mechanism in place to simply enter this information online: log into the ING Direct account and select the “My Links” tab. It must be a new feature as the tab still doesn’t appear on every page. (Perhaps they could use a web programmer? I can be bribed away.)
Now the task is to add my Emigrant Direct account as a link, facilitating an easy transfer of funds between the two banks. Once again, MyMoneyBlog had the Emigrant Direct routing number ready to go. The next step will be to verify two small deposits sent to the linked bank. This will ensure that I am the owner of the account. I am pretty sure that I am, but this verification will make the bank feel better about it.
By directly depositing my paycheck into the ING Direct account, there will be a smaller chance I’ll spend the money unwisely, as I’ll have to transfer some to my checking account. Hopefully I’ll transfer enough to cover bills but not much more. By linking my ING and Emigrant accounts, I’ll be able to pass my income along to an account earning higher interest.
One may ask why I don’t just deposit my paycheck in my Emigrant Direct account, bypassing the lower interest ING Direct. The one thing I like about ING Direct is the ability to have multiple accounts (with separate account numbers). I can split up my funds by function with this feature.
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